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Americanizing  a  City 


The  Campaign  for  the  Detroit  Night  Schools 
Conducted  in  August-September,  1915,  by  The 
Detroit  Board  of  Commerce  and  Board  of 
Education,  under  the  auspices  of  the  National 
Americanization  Committee  and  the 
Committee  for  Immigrants  in  America 


Issued  by  the 
National  Americanization  Committee 

and  the 

Committee  for  Immigrants  in  America 

20  West  34th  Street,  New  York  City, 

December  15,  1915. 


Gift 


I 


Americanizing  a  City 


Getting  the  Adult  Immigrant  to  School 


IF  every  city  and  town  in  the  country  today  were  to  provide  night  classes 
in  which  its  non-English  speaking  adult  population  could  learn  English 
and  the  first  principles  of  American  citizenship,  we  should  have  the 
machinery  for  Americanization.  For  while  Americanization  means  much 
more  than  the  English  language  and  civics,  English  is  the  indispensable  key.  A 
general  provision  for  teaching  it  would  be  a  tremendous  achievement,  for  we 
have  never  had  this  before.  We  now  have  facilities  for  perhaps  one  immigrant 
in  ten  in  the  best  equipped  states,  and  for  none  at  all  in  some  states.  We  have 
requirements  for  naturalization  and — no  facilities  for  meeting  them.  We  tell 
every  immigrant  that  to  be  a  citizen  and  a  competent  resident  of  the  United 
States,  he  must  be  able  to  use  the  English  language  and  show  that  he  is 
"attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Cohstitution."  But  we  have  not  thought 
it  our  responsibility  to  provide  the  ways  and  means.  And  therefore  if  night 
schools  and  classes  on  an  adequate  scale  were  now  provided  for  in  every 
community  with  a  considerable  foreign-born  population,  we  should  have  at 
least  an  Americanization  policy  and  program;  and  we  should  be  infinitely 
further  along  on  the  road  to  national  unity  than  we  now  are. 

But  though  we  should  have  the  machinery,  we  should  not  have  Americani- 
zation. We  should  still  have  to  connect  the  immigrant  with  the  schools.  At 
present  this  necessity  represents  half  the  battle  of  Americanization.  We 
have  so  long  left  to  chance^ajid  to  the  principle  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
the  Americanization  of  our  ^reat.  foreign-born  population  that  we  cannot 
now  by  any  single  measure  deal  adequately  with  the  situation  we  have 
created.  What  that  situation  is  needs  no  exposition  here;  the  headlines  of 
the  last  six.  months,  the  history  of  strikes  among  foreign-born  colonies  in 
munition  factories  and  elsewhere,  the  catalogue  of  newly  formed  "leagues" 
and  "societies,"  the  racial  meetings,  programs  and  resolutions,  are  a  suffi- 
cient ind^x.  What  America  is  facing  now  is  not  simply  the  economic  prob- 
lem of  giving  the  immigrant  a  chance  as  a  piece  of  benevolent  paternalism ; 
in  the  large  number  of  unassimilated  groups  in  our  factories  and  towns,  we 
are  facing  a  vast  social  problem  involving  our  national  unity,  the  preserva- 
tion of  a  uniform  ideal  of  citizenship,  the  maintenance  of  industrial  peace, 
and  the  conservation  of  a  social  ideal  based  on  the  use  of  the  English  lan- 
guaff,  a  regard  for  American  citizenship  and^American  standards  of  living.  / 


4  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

We  must  have  the  night  schools  and  classes  as  speedily  as  possible. 
But  behind  every  one  that  is  established  wq  must  have  the  social  force  of 
the  particular  community,  all  its  agencies,  all  its  resources,  all  its  civic  sym- 
pathies, if  the  future  of  American  citizenship  is  really  to  be  assured.  JNo^ 
educational  department  can  carry  the  work  through  alone.  These,  are  some 
of  the  reasons  why  it  cannot: 

(1)  The  immigrant  population  has  not  been  invited  to 
go  to  school  before ;  it  will  be  distrustful  now. 

(2)  A  good  many  immigrants  will  never  even  know  about 
the  night  schools — ^where  they  are  located,  when  they  are  open, 
for  whom  they  are  intended,  what  they  will  teach — unless 
special  effort  is  made  to  carry  the  news  to  them. 

(3)  Some  of  them  work  ten  or  twelve  hours  a  day.  Some 
of  them  change  their  shifts  every  week  or  every  two  weeks. 
They  are  not  likely  to  think  that  a  night  school  from  seven  to 
nine  for  four  nights  every  week  has  much  to  do  with  them.  If 
they  finish  work  at  six  o'clock,  even  those  who  know  about  the 
schools  and  are  interested  are  not  likely  to  feel  that  they  could 
go  home,  get  supper,  wash  and  change  their  clothes,  and  get  to 
night  school  in  time. 

(4)  Those  in  the  lowest  grade  of  American  labor — ^work- 
ing for  from  $1.50  to  $1.70  daily — perhaps  have  long  come  to 
feel  themselves  cut  off  from  the  ascending  current  of  American 
industry.  They  are  not  likely  to  feel  that  any  civic  opportuni- 
ties are  intended  for  them,  or  that  indeed  there  is  any  point  in 
trying  to  reach  such  opportunities. 

The  conclusion  is  this:  As  a  result  of  our  long  continued  policy  orjack 
of  policy,  getting  immigrants  into  night  schools  on  a  scale  that  covers  thie 
jneeds  of  any  community^,  has  Jtexome^a^^  experiment  taxing  jevery  coi^- 
munity  resource. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  sketch  to  show  how  this  can  be  done  by  outlin- 
ing such  an  experiment  recently  conducted  in  Detroit. 

The  end  attained  in  this  case  was  not  only  an  increase  of  IS3%  '»  ^^e 
actual  registration  in  the  night  schools,  but  the  awakening  of  the  city  of 
Detroit  to  its  vast  immigration  problem,  the  assumption  of  definite  responsi- 
bilities by  many  employers  and  others,  the  socializing  of  very  varied  com- 
munity forces  in  cooperating  to  this  one  end — ;the  Americanization  of  a  peculi- 
arly heterogeneous  and  unassimilated  city. 

What  was  done  in  Detroit  can  be  done  in  every  city  or  town  that  has 
an  unassimilated  foreign  population  and  a  night  school. 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  5 

Why  Detroit  was  an  Appropriate  Place  for  the  Experiment: 

Detroit  is  a  typical  immigration  laboratory  of  the  country.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  city  within  the  last  decade  may  be  indexed  under  two 
heads:  the  automobile  industry,  and  immigration.  Not  many  years  ago, 
Detroit  was  a  beautiful  unified  town,  provincial  in  its  ideal,  of  conservative 
French-American  traditions.  To-day  it  typifies  at  home  and  abroad  an 
expanding  center  of  American  industrialism.  The  small  town  current  is 
still  there;  but  it  has  been  deflected  at  a  hundred  points  by  the  workshops 
of  national  industries.  The  small  town  grace  and  the  small  town  prejudice 
are  still  there  also;  but  they  have  been  invaded  at  a  hundred  points  by  all 
the  races  of  the  earth,  and  all  the  destinies  of  cosmopolitan  America.  The 
destiny  of  America  has  precipitated  itself  into  Detroit.  And  Detroit,  while 
proud  of  its  industrial  significance,  proud  of  the  swiftly  flowing  life  within 
it,  of  its  rapid  passage  to  distinction  in  the  eyes  of  America  and  of  the  world, 
is  nevertheless  dazed  at  being  thus  overtaken.  As  a  typical  cosmopolitan  city 
of  America,  it  has  not  yet  accepted  or  found  itself. 

The  tide  has  come  on  too  quickly  to  make  this  possible.  A  summary  of 
the  last  five  years  proves  that.  The  population  of  Detroit  in  1910  was 
465,766.  It  is  now  about  700,000.  An  increase  of  300,000  in  a  space  of 
five  years  tells  half  of  the  story  of  the  present-day  Detroit.  By  a  rapid 
expansion  of  the  automobile  industry,  a  city  was  grafted  upon  a  town.  By 
the  importation  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  foreign  workmen,  a  compara- 
tively small  city  with  the  ideals,  the  housing,  the  general  intentions  of  the 
town  it  supplanted  became  in  population  the  seventh  city  in  the  country, 
and  in  industrial  importance  perhaps  third  or  fourth.  The  map  of  Detroit  is 
now  a  map  of  nations.  Two  great  Polish  sections  cover  together  perhaps  a 
fourth  of  the  city's  area ;  well  in  the  centre  of  the  city  is  a  solid  Italian  section. 
One  whole  end  of  the  city  is  practically  solid  Hungarian — and  Russians, 
Greeks,  Roumanians,  Servians,  Jews,  Belgians,  Armenians,  constitute  smaller 
groups  throughout.  There  are  a  half  dozen  cities^  4i^ti"ct  in  type,  within 
the  city's  boundaries. 

In  1910,  33%  of  the  population  was  foreign  born,  and  74%  was  either 
foreign  born  or  of  foreign-born  parentage.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  the 
300,000  increase  in  population  since  1910  has  not  lessened  these  percentages. 

The  Detroit  factories  are  placing  the  city  high  in  production,  high  in 
importance  in  America.  They  are  working  out  the  type  of  American  indus- 
try. But  thousands  of  them  are  not  working  out  the  type  of  American 
citizenship  or  American  workmen  at  all. 

That,  says  the  practical  observer,  is  not  the  business  of  industry.  And 
this  is  true.  It  is  not  the  business  of  industry  alone ;  nor  of  the  public  educa- 
tional system  alone ;  nor  of  municipal  government  alone ;  nor  of  private  social 
organizations  alone.     It  is  the  business  of  all  of  these  and  it  will  require 


6  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

them  all.  Detroit  has  been  referred  to  as  the  most  American  of  our  cities. 
To  make  this  true  in  any  except  an  industrial  sense  requires  a  work  of 
assimilation  so  stupendous  that  every  constructive  force  in  the  city  vvrill  be 
taxed  to  its  utmost  to  accomplish  it.  The  work  has  been  begun,  and  only 
begun,  in  the  campaign  to  fill  the  night  schools.  But  the  union  of  the  com- 
munity forces  attained  in  this  campaign  gives  promise  for  the  future,  and 
points  a  social  ideal  for  other  communities,  in  the  same  direction. 

That  "English  first"  is  the  rational  first  step  in  Americanization  is  well 
illustrated  by  Detroit.  Many  thousands  of  the  foreign  born  of  Detroit 
do  not  speak  English.  In  1910  the  non-English  speaking  numbered  38,038. 
In  1915,  with  a  population  increased  by  300,000  the  number  of  those  unable 
to  read,  write,  speak  or  understand  English  must  have  been  extraordinarily 
increased.  Last  year  2,838  were  enrolled  in  the  public  night  schools.  Allow- 
ing for  those  learning  English  in  parochial  schools  or  private  classes,  it  is 
still  evident  that  although  a  very  considerable  percentage  of  Detroit^s  popu- 
lation was  unable  to  manage  its  affairs  through  the  English  language  and  to 
secure  the  approach  to  American  institutions  which  only  a  knowledge  of 
English  can  guarantee,  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  these  was  on  the  road 
to  learning  English  and  preparing  for  American  citizenship. 

The  Campaign  Made  Possible. 

Last  spring  the  Board  of  Education  secured  from  the  Board  of  Estimate 
a  night  school  appropriation  for  1915-16  double  that  of  former  years.  This 
meant  that  there  could  be  more  elementary  night  schools;  that  they  could  be 
held  four  nights  a  week  instead  of  three;  that  the  season  could  cover  100  nights 
instead  of  70. 

The  Board  of  Education  wished  to  justify  the  experiment  and  fill  the 
night  schools.  It  turned  first  of  all  to  the  Board  of  Commerce,  believing 
that  the  employer  of  immigrant  labor  could  direct  non-English  speaking 
workmen  to  the  schools  in  a  manner  not  open  to  the  Board  of  Education. 

The  Board  of  Commerce  in  Active  Charge  of  the  Campaign. 

The  request  for  cooperation  met  no  perfunctory  response.  The  Board 
of  Commerce  had  already  instituted  an  Americanization  program  of  its  own. 
Its  relief  work  for  the  unemployed  through  the  winter  of  1914-15  is  well 
known.  Of  the  thousands  that  besieged  its  Employment  Bureau,  the  Board 
of  Commerce  had  found  that  61%  of  the  unemployed  could  not  speak  Eng- 
lish and  that  the  demand  everywhere  at  this  period  of  excess  labor  was  for 
English-speaking  men.  The  non-English  speaking  men  were  the  first  to  be 
laid  off  and  the  last  to  be  taken  on. 

As  a  result  of  this  experience  the  Board  of  Commerce  had  invited  the  co- 
operation of  the  Committee  for  Immigrants  in  America  in  making  an  immi- 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  7 

grant  survey  of  Detroit.  Upon  the  basis  of  the  recommendations  included  in 
this  report,  the  Board  of  Commerce  had  appointed  a  special  committee  and 
formulated  a  year's  work,  with  the  ultimate  object  of  establishing  a  City 
Immigration  Bureau.  Immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  the  request  from  the 
Board  of  Education,  this  Committee  decided  to  make  the  night  school  cam- 
paign its  first  work. 

Industries  Give  Active  Support. 

The  Board  of  Commerce,  as  a  first  step,  sent  out  a  letter  to  every  Detroit 
industry  employing  over  100  men,  requesting  cooperation  in  urging  all  non- 
English  speaking  workmen  in  Detroit  to  register  at  the  evening  schools  on 
September  13. 

The  replies  received  to  the  first  letter  indicated  that  the  importance  of 
the  campaign  was  immediately  recognized  by  employers.  Representatives 
of  industries  employing  large  numbers  of  immigrants  were  thereupon  invited 
to  meet  at  luncheon  with  the  Education  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Com- 
merce. Here  employers  told  of  the  conditions  existing  within  their  own 
plants,  and  suggested  the  exact  ways  in  which  they  would  find  it  most  feasi- 
ble to  urge  night  school  attendance  upon  their  men. 

As  a  result  of  the  suggestions  received  at  several  of  these  luncheons,  the 
Board  of  Commerce  submitted  the  following  plan  to  every  industry  in  the 
city  employing  a  considerable  number  of  immigrants: 

Proposed  Plan     -^'"  _.-^ 

I.  That  some  executive  officer  of  the  company  take  a  personal  interest  in  this 
Vfork  and  follow  its  progress  among  the  employees  of  his  company. 

II.  That  some  intelligent  person  in  the  superintendent's  office,  the  welfare  de- 
partment, or  the  employment  office,  be  assigned  to  the  work,  his  reports  receiving  the 
personal  attention  of  the  executive  officer  suggested  above. 

III.  Instruct  your  employment  office  to  ask  all  foreigners  who  apply  for  work, 
questions  similar  to  the  following: 

1.  How  long  have  you  been  in  America? In  Detroit? 

2.  Can   you   talk   English? Can  you    read    and   write   English? 

3.  Have  you  been   to   night   school? How    long? When? 

Will  you  join  at  once? 

4.  Have  you  taken  out  first  citizenship  papers? 

When? Show  them Date? 

5.  Have  you  taken  out  final  papers? When? (Not  asked  if  No.  4 

is  answered  in  negative.)     If  not,  are  you  qualified  to  take  these  out? 

Will  you  do  so  as  soon  as  possible? 

After  asking  these  questions,  a  statement  similar  in  purpose  to  the  following,  can 
be  made: 

"There  is  no  place  in  our  factory,  in  Detroit,  or  in  this  jcountry,  for  mcnjiYhp.  a 
not  trying  to  learn  our  language,  and  become  good,  useful  citizens."      " ~ 

IV.  That  a  record  may  be  made  of  every  alien  employee  now  working  in  your 
factory,  showing,  among  other  things,  the  information  which  it  is  suggested  should  be 
asked  of  all  foreigners  who  apply  for  work,  as  indicated  above. 


8  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

V.  Inform  all  superintendents  and  foremen  having  supervision  over  foreign 
workmen  in  regard  to  the  courses  offered  foreigners  in  the  public  night  schools,  and 
the  location  of  these  schools,  and  instruct  them  to  use  all  possible  pressure  to  get 
their  men  to  enroll  and  attend  regularly. 

VI.  Tell  all  foreign  workers  through  their  foremen  or  through  interpreters  that 
they  must  learn  to  speak  the  English  language  at  once,  so  that  your  company  will  not 
have  to  talk  with  them  through  interpreters. 

VII.  Distribute  through  the  pay  envelope,  slips  informing  the  workers  about  the 
night  schools,  or  better  still,  have  slips  handed  to  each  workman  personally  by  some 
person  prepared  to  give  the  men  information  on  the  spot. 

VIII.  On  Wednesday,  September  8th,  have  all  workmen  gather  together  at  some 
convenient  point  in  the  factory  for  five  or  six  minutes,  and  have  the  executive  officer 
in  charge  of  this  work  talk  to  them  through  such  interpreters  as  may  be  necessary 
about  the  night  schools,  and  the  advantages  that  will  accrue  to  them  if  they  will 
attend. 

IX.  During  the  week  of  September  13th  have  a  record  made  of  every  foreign 
employee  who  has  enrolled  in  the  night  schools.  It  will  be  better  if  this  information  is 
secured  directly  by  a  representative  of  the  employer  from  the  workman.  Periodically 
arrange  to  have  someone  talk  to  the  workers  about  their  progress  at  these  schools, 
and  find  out  whether  they  are  attending  regularly,  and  how  well  they  are  getting 
along;  encourage  them  to  stick  to  it  by  a  little  genuine  friendly  interest.  The  school 
authorities,  upon  request,  will  make  reports  of  attendance  and  class  standing  to 
employers. 

X.  In  the  event  that  you  have  to  lay  off  any  workmen,  give  preference,  whenever 
possible,  to  men  who  are  attending  night  schools,  and  otherwise  conscientiously 
endeavoring  to  increase  their  value  as  workmen  and  citizens  and  tell  them  why.  Let 
the  man  who  is  being  laid  off  understand  that  he  would  have  stood  a  better  chance 
of  being  retained  by  the  company,  if  he  were  doing  something  to  learn  English  and 
become  an  American  citizen. 

Attached  to  the  plan  as  sent  out  to  the  industries  were  these  suggestions: 

Tell  Your  Foreign  Workmen  on   September  8th  at  Noon  and  on 
Every  Other  Possible  Occasion  That 

1.  They  should  enroll  in  the  night  school  nearest  them  on  September  13th  at 
7:00  p.  m. 

2.  It  is  easier  to  get  a  job  in  America  if  they  know  English.  (Many  firms  will 
take  only  English-speaking  men.)  Firms  prefer  the  men  who  are  making  an  effort 
to  learn  English  when  given  the  opportunity. 

3.  It  is  easier  to  keep  a  job  in  America  and  in  Detroit  if  they  learn  English. 
Non-English-speaking  men  are  the  last  to  be  taken  on  and  the  first  to  be  laid  off. 

4.  Sixty-one  per  cent  of  the  unemployed  that  applied  at  the  Board  of  Commerce 
last  winter  could  not  speak  English. 

If  they  had  known  English,  work  could  have  been  found  for  many  more  of  them. 
A  knowledge   of  English   is  the  first  step   toward   American  citizenship.     It  is 
impossible  to  become  an  American  citizen  without  it. 

5.  The  public  night  schools  will  show  men  how  to  become  citizens  and  will 
show  them  how  to  take  out  first  and  second  papers. 

6.  By  attending  the  night  schools  they  will  learn  the  principles  of  national,  state 
and  city  government  in  America.  They  will  learn  how  to  become  intelligent  voters 
in  Detroit  and  help  to  settle  the  affairs  of  the  community  in  which  they  live. 

7.  They  will  learn  how  to  protect  their  savings  and  make  safe  investments,  and 
how  to  conduct  their  business  affairs  and  protect  their  interests  in  America. 

8.  They  will  learn  how  to  make  their  hqmes  real  American  homes. 

9.  Their  wives  should  attend  the  night  school  also.  It  is  important  for  women 
to  learn  English  in  order  to  deal  with  tradesmen,  and  to  keep  up  with  their  children 
and  their  husbands. 

10.  They  will  be  able  to  do  for  themselves  some  of  the  things  they  now  have  to 
pay  others  to  do  for  them. 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  9 

11.  Tell  them  to  choose  the  night  school  which  is  nearest  to  their  homes  on 
September  13th.     (List  of  schools  followed.) 

The  reception  given  this  plan  is  indicated  by  the  following  extracts 
from  letters. 

DETROIT  STOVE  WORKS.  "This  company  will  be  glad  to  co-operate  with 
your  committee  in  calling  the  attention  of  our  employees  to  the  advantages  and 
opportunities  offered  to  all  who  attend  the  night  schools." 

DODGE  BROTHERS.  "We  realize  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  work  out 
our  own  method,  but  you  may  rest  assured  that  we  will  do  everything  we  possibly 
can  to  induce  our  workers  to  attend  the  night  school." 

DETROIT  CITY  GAS  COMPANY.  "This  company  will  be  glad  to  co-operate 
with  your  committee,  calling  the  attention  of  our  employees  to  the  advantages  and 
opportunities  offered  to  all  persons  who  attend  night  schools." 

DETROIT  CAN  COMPANY.  "I  am  endeavoring  to  arrange  a  meeting  of  our 
employees  who  do  not  talk,  read  or  write  the  English  language,  and  hope  to  have^  a 
gentleman  present  from  the  People's  State  Bank  to  talk  to  the  different  nationalities 
in  their  own  language  along  the  line  suggested  in  your  communication." 

GENERAL  ALUMINUM  &  BRASS  MFG.  CO.  "We  will  most  certainly  follow 
these  suggestions." 

A.  HARVEY'S  SONS  MANUFACTURING  CO.  "We  are  pleased  to  reply  that 
we  will  be  very  glad  to  co-operate  in  any  way  with  you  in  order  to  accomplish  general 
improvement  of  non-English-speaking  employees." 

MICHIGAN  NUT  AND  BOLT  WORKS.  "I  believe  that  we  have  the  work 
well  lined  up  in  our  own  plant,  but  to  insure  no  possible  failure  of  prompt  attention 
being  given  to  any  communication  you  may  have  for  us,  please  mail  direct  to  our 
secretary,  any  posters  or  literature  that  may  be  intended  for  us." 

MICHIGAN  STOVE  COMPANY.  "We  have  in  our  works  a  great  many  em- 
ployees who  do  not  speak  English,  and  naturally  we  are  interested  in  the  concerted 
effort  that  is  to  be  made  along  the  lines  suggested  in  your  letter,  and  we  are  willing 
and  anxious  to  co-operate  with  the  committee  in  carrying  forward  this  movement." 

MORGAN  &  WRIGHT.  "I  might  say  that  50  per  cent,  of  our  employees  are 
foreigners,  and,  as  you  will  see,  it  will  be  quite  an  undertaking  for  us  to  go  into  this 
as  thoroughly  as  we  would  desire.  However,  we  desire  to  assure  you  that  we  will 
endeavor  as  much  as  possible  to  forward  this  movement" 

NORTHERN  ENGINEERING  WORKS.  "We  wish  to  state  that  we  are  pleased 
to  do  anything  that  we  can  along  this  line  of  work.  We  have  not  many  employees 
who  cannot  speak  English.  We  have  some,  however,  who  speak  English  quite  brokenly 
and  no  doubt  would  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  of  taking  up  further  study 
of  English  in  the  night  schools,  as  suggested." 

NORTHWAY  MOTOR  &  MFG.  CO.  "It  has  been  my  duty  to  make  a  personal 
canvass  of  the  shop,  and  I  have  made  a  list  of  the  men  (225  at  present)  who  do  not 
speak,  read  or  write  English.  Every  man  on  the  list  will  receive  a  personal  letter 
addressed  to  his  home,  explaining  to  him  the  advantages  of  his  learning  English  and 
of  the  opportunity  given  him  in  the  night  school,  and  urging  him  to  attend. 

"I  will  talk  to  many  personally  and  do  all  my  best  in  answering  all  questions  and 
giving  thena  the  necessary  directions.  After  the  first  or  second  session  of  the  night 
school,  I  will  check  my  list  of  the  men  and  will  arrange  according  to  the  result  for  a 
class  or  more  of  English  to  be  held  here  at  the  plant." 

PACKARD  MOTOR  CAR  COMPANY.  "Referring  to  your  letter  of  September 
7th.  This  matter  has  all  been  taken  care  of;  the  workmen  were  assembled  and  the 
information  distributed.  This  movement  will  be  met  with  hearty  co-operation  by  the 
Packard  Motor  Car  Company  and  its  officials." 


10  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

THE  PENINSULAR  STOVE  COMPANY.  "I  certainly  approve  of  the  work  that 
the  'Board*  has  undertaken  and  would  be  glad  to  co-operate  with  your  committee." 

PAIGE-DETROIT.  "You  may  rest  assured  that  I  will  be  glad  to  push  along  the 
good  cause  to  the  limit." 

REGAL  MOTOR  CAR  COMPANY.  "Your  communication  regarding  the  inter- 
esting of  all  foreign-speaking  working  men  in  the  English  language  has  been  noted 
with  approval." 

SAXON  MOTOR  COMPANY.  ['We  are  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  efforts 
you  are  making  toward  the  education  in  English  of  the  non-English-speaking  workers. 

"}Ve  ivill  make  it  imperative  for  all  members  of  our  force  who  do  not  speak 
English  to  attend  the  night  schools  this  winter." 

In  some  cases  "Safety  First"  departments  took  charge  of  the  work;  in 
others,  organized  welfare  departments;  in  others,  an  executive  of  the  com- 
pany made  himself  personally  responsible. 

Practically  all  industries  agreed  in  putting  up  posters,  assembling  the  men 
to  urge  night  school  attendance,  and  issuing  the  pay  envelope  slips  provided 
by  the  Board  of  Education. 

Slips  Provided  by  the  Board  of  Education 


J^=  FOR  FOREIGNERS  "^1 

EVENING  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


LEARN    HOW    TO    BECOME    AN    AMERICAN    CITIZEN 

LEARN  TO  READ  AND  WRITE  ENGLISH 

AND  TO  DO  ARITHMETIC 

ENROLL  AT  THE  SCHOOL  NEAREST  TO  YOUR  HOME 
Classes  Start  Monday^  September  13th  at  7:00  o'clock 

ASK  THE  BOSS 


Ooard  of  Education,  City  of  Detroit 

Cass  Technical  High  School  Print  7-9-15  50  M 


Many  employers  at  once  made  it  clear  to  their  men  that  from  this  time 
on  the  firm  would  prefer  those  men  that  were  attending  night  school  and 
making  a  definite  effort  to  learn  English. 

But  a  considerable  number  of  firms  went  much  farther  than  this.  The 
Saxon  Company  made  night  school  attendance  compulsory  for  its  non-Eng- 
lish speaking  workmen. 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  11 

The  Northway  Company  established  a  factory  class  and  then  gave  its     ^ 
non-English  speaking  men   a  threefold   choice:    (1)    to   attend   the   factory 
class;  (2)  to  attend  the  public  night  school;  (3)  to  be  laid  off. 

These  are  drastic  measures.  But  it  is  important  to  remember  that  they 
are  based  upon  the  existence  of  fairly  adequate  facilities  for  attaining  the 
required  standards.  Certain  employers  considered  that  only  by  thus  using 
their  strategic  position  to  convince  their  workmen  of  the  need  of  English  could 
they  make  Detroit  a  city  of  English  speaking  workmen  and  English  speaking 
social  communities.  They  regarded  the  paternalism  involved  in  makingjnight 
school  attendance  mandatory  as  a  temporary  exigency.™" 

Other  industries  worked  on  a  different  principle.  The  Cadillac  Company, 
opposed  to  any  semblance  of  compulsion,  preferred  assembling  its  men  in 
groups  and  attempting  to  promote  night  school  attendance  by  popularizing 
the  night  school  idea  among  the  leaders  of  the  various  groups. 

The  Solvay  Company  proposed  a  wage  increase  of  two  cents  an  hour 
to  its  employees  who  learned  the  English  language. 

"I  am  convinced,"  said  the  efficiency  engineer  of  the  Seraet-Solvay  plant,  "that  | 
j  only  through  employers  offering  a  material  inducement  to  the  foreign  laborer  to  learn  I 
1  English  will  the  public  night  schools  for  non-English-speaking  operatives  be  made  a  j 
'  success.  .    .    .  The  foreigner  must  be  shown  that  it  will  be  of  material  advantage  to 
him  in  his  job  to  learn  the  English  tongue.    This  the  employer  can  well  afford  to  do, 
for  the  non-English-speaking  laborer  is  a  source  of  danger  to  himself  and  everybody 
else  about  the  plant.    I  should  be  afraid  to  estimate  the  aggregate  amount  of  waste 
each  year  to  this  company  through  a  non-English-speaking  operative's  failing  to  un- 
derstand an  order,  with  a  resultant  costly  blunder.     I  have  known  a  single  blunder 
to  cost  as  much  as  $2,000.    Then  there  are  thousands  paid  out  for  injuries,  many  of 
which  may  be  traced  directly  to  the  inability  of  the  employee  to  understand  English." 

One  definite  result  of  the  campaign,  for  all  industries,  was  to  make  them 
conscious  of  their  non-English  speaking  employees.  Most  firms  immediately 
upon  being  asked  to  co-operate  made  some  kind  of  census  to  find  out  at  least 
how  many  of  their  men  did  not  speak  English  and  were  proper  subjects  for 
a  night  school  campaign. 

The  very  first  returns  came  in,  naturally,  from  a  firm  employing  a  small 
number  of  non-English  speaking  men,  only  eighty-one.  There  was  a  mixture 
of  amazement  and  pride  in  the  manner  in  which  an  official  of  the  firm  re- 
ported the  result  of  the  census:  of  the  eighty-one  men  seventy-eight  declared 
themselves  eager  to  go  to  night  school,  of  which  they  had  known  nothing. 
The  other  three  felt  they  were  too  old  to  learn  English. 

The  census  acquainted  employers  with  their  workmen.  "The  non-English 
speaking  workman  has  never  been  one  of  our  problems,"  said  the  welfare 
worker  in  one  large  plant.  "I  never  knew  before  that  we  had  more  than  a 
very  few."  Yet  there  were  between  five  and  six  hundred  non-English  speak- 
'  ing  employees  in  that  plant ;  a  colony  of  six  hundred  non-English  speaking 
workmen  is  large  enough  to  have  a  powerful  influence  on  industrial  and  social 
life,  even  if  it  had  never  become  a  "problem"  or  a  body  of  strikers  within  the 
plant. 


12  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

In  short,  the  interest  given  by  Detroit  employers  was  not  merely  a  tem- 
porary thing,  but  a  broad  constructive  interest,  on  a  civic  basis.  It  looked 
toward  the  future,  and  realized  that  even  when  the  schools  were  filled,  three- 
fourths  of  the  work  was  yet  to  be  done.  The  result  was  a  willingness  to  follow 
the  progress  of  their  men  throughout  the  term. 

Probably  not  an  employer  in  Detroit  would  have  challenged  the  value 
of  the  night  school  idea.  But  some  employers  have  never  had  opportunity  to 
learn  its  practical  advantages  to  their  own  plants,  and  its  vast  civic  possi- 
bilities. With  this  in  mind,  Henry  Ford  invited  sixty  representative  em- 
ployers of  Detroit  to  luncheon  at  the  Ford  Plant  in  order  that  they  might 
observe  the  Ford  English  school — attendance  at  which  is  mandatory  for  non- 
English  speaking  workmen — in  operation,  and  be  convinced  of  the  practica- 
bility of  having  English  speaking  workmen  in  a  short  time. 

As  the  campaign  advanced  there  was  a  very  noticeable  growth  in  the  civic 
enthusiasm  among  employers.  "A  year  or  two  ago,"  said  one  of  the  most 
prominent  employers  of  the  city,  "my  friends  laughed  at  my  dream  of  an 
English  speaking  factory.    I  believe  I  shall  see  it  in  a  few  years." 

To  follow  up  this  interest,  and  to  keep  employers  in  touch  with  the  ex- 
periment, the  Board  of  Commerce  asked  employers  to  follow  definitely  by 
personal  visits  and  by  inspection  of  records  the  progress  of  the  night  schools. 
The  Chalmers  Motor  Company  at  once  had  a  card  printed  to  provide  for 
such  a  record  for  every  non-English  speaking  employee. 

Board  of  Education  Follows  Up  Work  of  Industries 
The  Superintendent  of  the  Board  of  Education  met  every  situation  pre- 
sented to  him  by  industry.  A  number  of  firms  whose  men  changed  from  night 
to  day  shifts  every  week  or  two  weeks  consulted  him.  He  assured  them  that 
special  classes  for  such  men  would  be  arranged  wherever  numbers  made  it  at 
all  possible.  The  Morgan  and  Wright  Company,  employing  hundreds  of  non- 
English  speaking  men  have  particularly  late  daily  hours,  owing  to  the  nature 
of  their  work.  It  would  be  impossible  for  their  men  to  reach  the  night  school 
session  in  time.  The  Board  of  Education  guaranteed  to  furnish  ten  regular 
teachers  for  classes  to  be  held  at  night  in  the  Morgan  and  Wright  plant,  if 
they  would  equip  ten  classrooms.  By  this  arrangement  between  700  and  800 
men  who  must  otherwise  have  been  denied  the  night  school  advantages  could 
be  included  in  its  benefits.  The  Board  of  Commerce  in  making  the  arrange- 
ment recommended  that  part  of  the  time  thus  spent  in  the  classroom  be  com- 
pany time,  that  the  men  be  able  to  get  supper  in  the  factory,  and  that  adequate 
facilities  for  recreation  be  included. 

Church  and  Priests  Aid 
There  can  be  no  question  that  employers  hold  the  chief  strategic  position 
in  such  a  campaign.     But — their  influence  is  often  more  forceful  than  sym- 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  13 

pathetic,  for  aside  from  the  job  they  know  very  little  about  the  motive  forces 
in  the  lives  of  the  men  to  whom  they  issue  pay  envelopes.  It  is  extremely 
important  to  have  the  message  of  the  night  school  carried  to  immigrants  by 
persons  and  powers  for  whom  they  have  a  spiritual  respect.  In  many  cases, 
this  influence  par  excellence  is  that  of  the  priest. 

The  minister  of  every  foreign  church  was  asked  to  announce  the  night 
school  opening,  with  a  strong  recommendation  to  attend,  to  his  congregation 
on  the  two  Sundays  immediately  preceding  the  opening.  Many  of  them  called 
up  the  Board  of  Commerce  or  wrote  saying  that  they  were  glad  to  co-operate. 

On  the  day  before  registration  day,  a  Sunday,  the  Board  of  Commerce 
had  handbills  to  be  distributed  at  the  various  foreign  churches  at  the  close  of 
services.  The  Police  Commissioner  requested  that  because  of  a  prohibitory 
city  ordinance  the  distributors  stand  well  within  the  church  property.  A 
letter  was  sent  to  all  the  churches  asking  that  the  priests  and  pastors  tele- 
phone to  the  Board  of  Commerce  if  they  had  any  objection  to  this.  Not  one 
objection  was  received  although  the  procedure  was  extraordinary  for  many 
churches.  Many  telephone  messages  were  sent  to  say  that  the  distributors 
would  be  welcome  and  that  the  ushers  would  give  any  assistance  desired. 

A  number  of  the  large  Polish  and  Italian  parishes  conduct  night  classes 
for  adults.  Because  of  this  and  because  of  the  traditional  prejudice  on  both 
sides  between  public  and  parochial  schools,  it  was  prophesied  that  not  much 
active  aid  in  the  campaign  would  be  secured  from  the  Catholic  clergy,  power- 
ful as  they  were.  The  prophecy  was  not  borne  out.  First,  the  public  educa- 
tion authorities  proposed  conferences  with  parochial  school  teachers,  in  the 
fall,  with  reference  to  exchanging  experience  and  attaining  uniform  methods 
of  teaching  citizenship  and  English ;  secondly,  several  of  the  priests  personally 
visited  showed  an  active  interest  in  the  whole  question  of  Americanization, 
and  threw  their  support  into  the  cause  for  their  parish. 

Father  Herr,  a  Polish  priest,  with  a  parish  of  25,000  Poles  within  which, 
except  among  the  children,  the  English  language  in  rarely  heard,  issued  a 
statement  commending  the  Americanization  campaign  to  the  Poles  of  Detroit, 
and  urging  a  better  and  broader  American  citizenship: 

"The  church  stands  firm  for  the  education  of  its  young  in  the  schools  of  its 
own  creation,"  said  Father  Herr.  "Yet  it  can  see  nothing  but  good  in  the 
plan  to  educate  mature  non-English  speaking  foreigners  in  the  public  night 
schools,  and  in  the  reinforcement  of  this  by  the  factory  schools  in  which  the 
foreigner  may  obtain  the  nomenclature  of  his  job." 

Those  who  know  the  power  of  the  church  forces  in  the  lives  of  the  Polish 
immigrant,  for  instance,  realize  well  how  slow  and  retarded  must  be  any 
community  process  of  Americanization  that  has  not  the  support  of  the  church, 
and  appreciate  the  true  value  of  the  significant  spirit  of  co-operation  thus 
demonstrated  in  the  Detroit  campaign. 


14 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 


Municipal  Departments  and  Agencies 

The  public  libraries  placed  the  large  colored  Americanization  poster  at 
headquarters  and  at  all  their  branches. 

The  libraries  also  worked  out  a  careful  distribution  system  by  which  all 
books  Issued  to  immigrant  children  contained  a  folded  card  issued  by  the 
Board  of  Commerce. 

Inside  the  folder  was  a  sentence  in  various  languages,  addressed  to  the 
parents  and  telling  them  where  to  register  for  night  school  work.  There  is 
no  better  medium  than  immigrant  children  for  making  a  message  really  reach 
the  mother  and  father.  The  children  were  proud  of  the  charge.  Since  in 
addition  to  the  regular  branch  libraries  Detroit  has  many  public  school 
branches  which  are  very  active  in  the  summer  in  all  sections  of  the  city,  this 
was  an  important  way  of  reaching  immigrant  houses.  The  heads  of  all  these 
branch  libraries  also  co-operated  by  sending  in  to  those  in  charge  of  the  cam- 
paign the  names  of  foreign  born  men  and  women  with  great  influence  in  their 
community  and  great  power  for  promoting  the  night  schools  among  their  own 
people. 

The  City  Recreation  Commission  distributed  five  thousand  similar  cards 
to    immigrant    children 


Can  Your  Mother 

and  Father  Speak 

English  WeU? 


through  their  playgrounds 
and  swimming  pools,  and 
supplied  several  workers  to 
visit  various  small  shops  in 
the  immigrant  sections  and 
interest  shopkeepers  in  put- 
ting up  the  display  posters. 
They  performed  the  same 
service  at  the  small  moving 
picture  houses  in  these  sec- 
tions. 

The  Health  Board  in- 
structed its  sixty  visiting 
nurses  to  carry  around  hand- 
bills issued  in  seven  lan- 
guages by  the  Board  of  Com- 
merce and  make  definite  ap- 
peals to  each  family  that 
both  men  and  women  go  to 
night  school. 

The  Poor  Commission  in 
all  departments  of  its  work  used  the  handbills  and  followed  the  same  methods ; 
further,  the  Poor  Commission  instituted  at  the  main  office  a  regular  policy  of 


Take  this  card  home; 
it  will  tell  them  where 
to  go  to  learn  English 


Distributed  by  the 
DETROIT  BOARD  OF  COMMERCE 


Front  pagre  of  library  folder 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 


15 


making  it  clear  to  the  non-English-speaking  men  and  women  that  came  there 
for  assistance  that  they  were  expected  to  learn  the  English  language,  and  that 
taking  advantage  of  the  night  school  facilities  was  for  them  a  practical  obli- 
gation. 

^^The  Juvenile  Court  arranged  to  issue  handbills  with  all  widows'  pension 
papers. 

Social  Agencies 
Probably  every  social  agency  in  Detroit  that  had  any  approach  to  foreign- 
speaking  men  and  women  contributed  some  aid.  Workers  were  lent  espe- 
cially by  the  Associated  Charities,  which  acted  as  a  clearing  house  for  all  the 
social  agencies  of  the  city  in  the  campaign.  One  field  worker  was  detailed  by 
the  Associated  Charities  to  cover  an  important  immigrant  section  just  outside 

the  city  limits,  and  inter- 


n  A  to  Nght  Sdiooi  SepL  13th 

^||%^  Can  you  speak  English  well  ? 

Do  yon  want  to  be  an  American  citizen  ? 
Do  you  want  a  better  job? 
It  is  bard  to  get  a  job  in  America  Without  English. 
GO  TO  NIGHT  SCHOOL  AND  LEARN  IT. 

PKX  OUT  THE  SCHOOL  NEAREST  YOU  IN  THE  LIST  AT  THE  BOTTOM  OP  TSIS 
tAGE  AND  CO  THERE  ON  SEPTEMBER  13tk  AT  7«)  OXLOCK1N  THi  EVENINa 


P8ZYJDZCffi*.!!?^ES2?^ 


ANDATE  ALLE  SCUOLE 

SERALI  AL.13  OI  SETTEMBRE 

$Ann  HAn  mne  mouse? 


0  DVFKUI 
■WWIAMQ 


I  m  TSCO  J«ZYLA. 


Menjen  az  Eati  UkoMba 
Szeptanfber  13-An. 


est  the  women  in  register- 
ing at  the  public  night 
schools.  The  men  of  this 
section  are  chiefly  taken 
care  of  in  the  Ford  Eng- 
lish school. 

Most  of  the  social 
agencies  of  the  city,  pub- 
lic and  private,  gave  def- 
inite assistance  both  at 
their  headquarters  and 
also  through  their  investi- 
gators, visitors  and  branch 
offices.  Some  of  the  agen- 
cies which  gave  definite 
instructions  to  their  work- 
ers on  the  subject  of  night 
schools,  which  circulated 
handbills  through  their 
specific  channels,  and  in 
other  ways  contributed  to 
the  campaign  were:  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Railroad 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Babies' 
Milk  Fund,  the  Michigan 
Children's  Home  Society, 
the  Provident  Loan  Asso- 
ciation, the  Women's  Hos- 
pital and  Infant's  Home,  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  the  Girl's  Protection 
League,  the  Harper  Hospital,  the  Florence  Crittenton  Home,  the  Salvation 


SCMUOENOAPItA  iUKXTE 
MTA  12-tea  SErmVIIL 


L  o«  NOAmAa  mvAlMt 


Ufcn  Tcicnti  Switll  SqlaAra 


DaHgna*.! 


"^xmmoou... ,..-,.Cijimmdr  warn 


Board  of  Commerce  Handbill 


16  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

Army,  The  Neighborhood  House,  the  Chase  Street  Settlement,  the  Neighbor- 
hood Committee,  the  Associated  Charities,  the  Solvay  Lodge,  the  Volunteers 
of  America,  McGregor  Institute,  and  Grace  Hospital.  The  United  Hebrew 
Charities  did  active  work  throughout  the  Yiddish  section,  distributing  hand- 
bills and  seeing  that  the  display  posters  were  put  up  in  small  shops. 

Employment  Agencies 

The  three  main  employment  bureaus  of  Detroit,  the  Employers'  Associa- 
tion Bureau,  the  Michigan  State  Free  Employment  Bureau  and  the  Federal 
Employment  Bureau  were  especially  interested  in  pressing  the  campaign.  Two 
of  the  offices  had  special  police  officers  deputed  to  give  handbills  to  every  non- 
English-speaking  man  that  applied  for  work.  The  bills  were  not  thrown 
around;  they  were  carefully  handed  to  the  man  and  the  real  importance  of 
them  explained.  The  Michigan  State  Free  Employment  Bureau  enclosed  with 
every  work  ticket  a  handbill  giving  the  location  of  the  night  schools  and  urging 
attendance. 

The  Bureau  of  the  Employers'  Association  does  not  secure  work  for  the 
non-English  speaking,  or,  in  general,  for  laborers.  These  are  turned  away 
at  the  outside  door.  But  the  policeman  in  charge  was  instructed  to  see  that 
every  one  of  these  men  received  a  handbill.  Every  man  that  reaches  the  desk 
inside  must  show  that  he  can  at  least  write  his  name.  Those  that  had  diffi- 
culty in  doing  this  were  personally  told  about  the  night  schools  and  urged  to 
attend.  The  Employers'  Association  plans  to  follow  up  the  night  school  cam- 
paign by  making  night  school  attendance  a  feature  of  their  record  slip  and  by 
detaining  the  men  for  whom  they  can  do  nothing  because  of  lack  of  English 
and  explaining  to  them,  through  interpreters  engaged  for  the  purpose,  how 
largely  getting  work  is  dependent  upon  knowing  English. 

The  Employers'  Association  through  the  head  of  the  Labor  Bureau  sent 

out  to  all  the  members  of  the  association  a  letter  pointing  out  the  responsibility 

of  the  employer  for  the  success  of  the  night  schools,  whether  those  for  teaching 

English  to  foreigners  or  those  for  enabling  young  mechanics  to  increase  their 

industrial  efficiency  by  learning  more  than  one  process  in  their  trade: 

"Gentlemen:  A  great  deal  has  been  said,  and  much  interest  and  enthusiasm 
aroused,  over  the  education  of  the  foreigner.  Circulars  as  per  copies  enclosed  have 
been  distributed,  and  it  is  hoped  liberally  circulated  in  every  plant.  If  you  have  not 
done  this  we  urge  your  immediate  attention.  Supplies  of  the  poster  can  be  secured 
from  the  Board  of  Commerce,  and  of  the  pay-envelope  circular  from  the  Board  of 
Education,  or  either  or  both  from  this  office." 


Other  Cooperating  Agents 

Boy  Scouts.  On  Wednesday,  September  8,  the  same  day  on  which  the  em- 
ployers were  requested  at  noon  to  call  their  men  together  and  urge  night 
school  attendance,  a  large  force  of  Boy  Scouts  covered  the  immigrant  sections 


r¥ 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  17 

of  the  city  in  a  handbill  distribution.  This  was  arranged  through  the  co- 
operation of  the  Boy  Scout  Commissioner.  It  was  a  clean  cut  piece  of  work, 
done  with  enthusiasm.  On  Sunday,  the  day  before  the  opening  of  the  night 
schools,  a  small  squad  of  scouts  again  aided  in  distributing  handbills  at  all  the 
foreign  language  churches,  of  which  Detroit  has  a  large  number.  Every  im- 
portant mass  or  service  was  covered  with  handbills  in  the  language  used  by 
the  congregation. 

Women  s  Club.  The  Twentieth  Century  Club,  a  woman's  organization 
with  a  membership  of  eight  hundred,  organized  a  temporary  committee  to  call 
up  by  telephone  or  to  visit  members  and  influential  directors  and  patrons  of 
various  social  organizations  in  order  to  secure  their  aid  in  arranging  definite 
ways  in  which  the  particular  organization  could  help  the  campaign. 

Neighboring  Educational  Authorities.  Highland  Park  has  already  been 
mentioned  as  a  section  outside  the  city  limits,  containing  many  immigrant 
homes,  largely  those  of  Ford  workmen.  The  men  that  do  not  speak  English 
are  compelled  to  go  to  the  Ford  classes.  But  the  women — and  the  homes — 
remain  Southern  European.  The  public  education  authorities  of  Highland 
Park,  stirred  by  the  campaign  in  Detroit,  made  an  open  declaration  that  it 
would  take  care  of  all  immigrants  that  could  be  rallied,  and  it  invited  aid  in 
making  a  Highland  Park  campaign,  especially  among  the  women.  It  also 
proposed  to  put  the  women's  classes  in  the  afternoon — a  most  important  con- 
sideration, for  few  immigrant  women  feel  that  they  can  leave  home  at  night. 

Individuals.  Various  individuals  contributed  assistance  of  great  value. 
Among  these  were  the  Federal  Immigration  Officer,  and  the  Italian  Vice- 
Consul,  banker  and  steamship  agent,  who  used  his  headquarters  as  a  distribu- 
tion centre  for  handbills  and  posters,  arranged  interviews  with  prominent 
Italians  in  his  office,  and  in  other  ways  assisted  the  campaign  in  the  Italian 
section. 

It  happened  that  there  were  no  fonts  of  Greek  type  available  in  Detroit 
and  that  the  Greek  Colony  was  therefore  cut  off  from  handbills  and  posters. 
The  Board  of  Commerce  appealed  to  a  Greek  merchant,  an  acknowledged 
leader  of  the  Greek  colony  in  Detroit,  who  called  the  Greeks  of  the  colony 
together  at  his  place  and  urged  night  school  attendance,  definitely  pointed  out 
why  they  should  go,  what  they  would  learn  and  in  what  definite  ways  they 
would  be  assisted.  He  even  went  to  the  expense  of  having  Greek  handbills 
printed,  ordering  them  from  New  York. 

Americanization  Posters 

Nearly  four  thousand  of  the  "Uncle  Sam"  night  school  posters,  20  x  32 
in.,  in  four  colors  and  seven  languages,  were  displayed  at  various  advantageous 
places  throughout  Detroit. 


18 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 


The  Walker  Outdoor  Advertising  Company  posted  500  of  these  on  bill- 
boards throughout  the  city  entirely  free  of  charge. 

Every  social  agency,  settlement,  clinic,  etc.,  put  them  up  at  headquarters 
and  in  branch  offices  and  in  several  cases  assumed  responsibility  for  getting 
them  up,  throughout  a  given  immigrant  section. 

Factories  placed  them  at  favor- 
able places  throughout  the  plant. 

Some  of  the  social  agencies  vv^ith 
the  assistance  of  workers  from  the 
Recreation  Commission  and  other 
volunteers  also  took  the  posters  to 
many  small  shops  and  saloons 
throughout  all  the  immigrant  sec- 
tions. Armed  vi^ith  thumb  tacks  and 
posters,  a  force  of  workers  covered 
the  small  shops  of  the  various  im- 
migrant sections.  The  interest  with 
which  the  man  or  woman  store- 
keeper saw  his  own  language  under 
the  figure  of  Uncle  Sam,  and  the 
alacrity  with  which  they  sought  the 
best  display  point  in  the  shop,  to- 
gether with  a  certain  dumb  appeal 
in  their  amazement  at  being  thus 
approached,  told  the  workers  the 
whole  story  of  isolation  and  of  sep- 
arate interest.  It  was  a  spanning 
of  a  very  deep  divide. 

Representatives  of  the  Detroit  Federation  of  Labor  and  also  of  the  Brew- 
ery Workers  and  Bill  Posters  Union  agreed  to  have  their  workers  place 
the  posters  in  saloons  throughout  the  city  with  a  recommendation  to  saloon- 
keepers to  put  them  up  and  keep  them  up.  There  is  a  theory  that  the 
saloonkeeper  is  the  foe  of  the  night-school  idea.  He  may  be.  But  a  number 
of  Detroit  saloonkeepers  received,  and  put  up,  the  posters  with  keen  interest. 
The  employment  agencies  put  them  up  where  they  could  be  seen  by  every 
waiting  line. 


I 


Handbills 

125,000  of  the  handbills  advertising  the  night  schools  in  seven  languages 
and  giving  the  location  of  the  schools  (see  p.  15)  were  distributed  through- 
out the  immigrant  sections.  The  distribution  was  in  every  case  made  by  in- 
terested agents,  and  no  bills  were  sown  broadcast.    They  reached  the  people 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  19 

they  were  meant  to  reach.  In  one  case  when,  on  account  of  the  difficulties  of 
rallying  the  Boy  Scouts  in  vacation  through  their  Scout  Masters,  the  squad 
that  was  to  look  after  the  Italian  section  could  not  be  hastily  enough  sum- 
moned, a  squad  of  fifteen  little  Sicilian  boy  and  girl  "privates"  dressed  in 
their  best,  covered  the  whole  Italian  neighborhood  in  record  time. 

In  addition  to  the  general  handbills,  15,000  handbills  in  Russian  and  in 
Polish  only  were  distributed.  A  significant  use  of  the  Russian,  besides  at  the 
Russian  churches,  was  the  distribution  at  a  large  meeting  held  in  honor  of  the 
war  victims  of  the  year. 

Employers  Bulletin 

The  Michigan  Workmen's  Compensation  Mutual  Insurance  Company 
issued  a  special  night  school  bulletin  to  all  employers  on  its  list  throughout 
Detroit  and  throughout  Michigan  with  the  following  heading: 

Michigan  Workmen* s  Compensation  Mutual 
Insurance  Company 

English  ) 
Safety     V  First 
America ) 

A  Direct  Appeal  to  All  Employers  in  the  City  of  Detroit 

The  folder  contained  definite  suggestions  as  to  how  an  employer  might 
promote  night  school  attendance  among  his  men.  It  was  especially  appropriate 
for  this  agency  to  point  out  to  its  constituents  the  immediate  connection  between 
"English  First"  and  "Safety  First." 

The  Foreign  Language  Press 

Foreign  language  editors  gave  their  support;  they  came  personally  to  the 
Board  of  Commerce  to  see  those  in  charge  of  the  campaign,  giving  their  sug- 
gestions and  accepting  others.  Three  of  them  took  over  large  numbers  of  the 
handbills  for  neighborhood  distribution.  The  Polish  Daily  Record  and  the 
Italian  Voce  del  Populo  agreed  to  conduct  a  regular  campaign  in  their  col- 
umns up  to  the  time  of  the  night  school  opening.  Russian  Life,  the  Italian 
Tribune,  and  the  Hungarian  News  were  also  especially  active.  Next  to  the 
priest  perhaps  no  other  medium  can  so  eflcctively  commend  an  American  idea 
to  the  immigrant  as  the  newspaper  in  his  own  tongue.  It  is  important  to  enlist 
the  undoubted  power  of  the  foreign  language  press  in  the  work  of  American- 
ization.   Many  of  them  are  keenly  interested  in  it 


20  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

English  Press 

From  August  18  to  the  opening  of  the  schools  on  September  13,  some 
space  was  given  every  day  to  the  night  school  campaign  in  the  English  press 
of  Detroit,  consisting  of  the  Free  Press,  the  News,  the  Journal  and  the  Times. 
Frequently  the  night  school  stories  were  featured  on  the  first  page,  and  the 
editorial  comment  showed  a  realization  of  the  broad  civic  aspect  of  the  cam- 
paign. 

The  Detroit  Journal,  August  30: 

"Detroit  is  an  English-speaking  American  city  struggling  to  assimilate  groups  of 
Europeans  and  Asiatics  speaking  all  the  tongues  of  Babel. 

"To  reduce  that  Babel  to  some  uniformity  in  the  knowledge  of  English,  the  Board 
of  Education  and  the  Board  of  Commerce,  with  the  aid  of  employers  and  labor  organ- 
izations, have  united  on  a  campaign  to  bring  all  foreigners  into  the  night  schools. 

"Foreigners  are  voted  in  droves  by  bosses,  but  English-speaking  citizens  of  foreign 
birth  can  vote  for  themselves. 

"English  means  more  jobs  and  easier  work  for  the  toiler.  It  means  better  results 
and  better  orders  for  the  employer.  This  country  belongs  not  to  foreigners  but  to 
Americans,  and  foreigners  can  gain  a  share  in  it  only  by  becoming  Americans  in 
speech  and  action  and  feeling. 

"This  educational  campaign  is  economically  wise,  industrially  shrewd,  philan- 
thropically  just — it  is  also  in  the  sanest  sense  patriotic" 

The  Detroit  Free  Press,  August  30th,  1915: 

"One  of  the  most  encouraging  signs  of  Detroit's  aflFairs  at  present  is  the  attention 
being  given  to  the  night  school  program  for  the  coming  winter.  Never  before  has  the 
subject  occupied  so  much  space  in  the  newspapers  at  this  season  of  the  year;  never 
have  so  many  citizens  of  prominence  in  all  departments  of  the  city's  business  given 
so  much  of  their  time  and  ability  to  it;  never  perhaps  were  the  prospects  for  practi- 
cally beneficial  results  from  it  so  promising. 

"Our  whole  school  system  is  a  vital  part  of  our  nation's  existence,  but  of  all  the 
work  done  by  educational  processes,  it  seems  as  if  none  other  held  the  possibilities 
that  are  latent  in  the  night  school  classes.  They  attract  the  newcomer  among  us  and 
the  adults  of  longer  residence,  ardent  to  learn  the  rudiments  of  their  chosen  environ- 
ment, bringing  to  their  voluntary  studies  eager  appetites  for  knowledge,  and  usually 
of  an  age  when  the  full  meaning  of  education  is  grasped.  It  is  a  fertile  field  they 
offer  for  ambitious  instructors,  and  the  harvest  that  it  may  yield  with  proper  cultiva- 
tion will  endure  far  in  the  future." 

The  Detroit  News,  September  6th,  1915: 

"It  is  a  departure  that  seems  highly  commendable  because  it  should  make  for  a 
greater  solidarity  of  the  nation.  A  universal  acquaintance  with  the  English  language 
is  of  advantage  to  every  American  citizen. 

"As  soon  as  a  reasonable  command  of  the  language  is  acquired  the  natural  preju- 
dice that  exists  between  the  native  born  and  the  foreign  born  fades  away  because  the 
English-speaking  alien  appears  to  be  one  of  us,  having  yielded  to  the  process  of  com- 
plete assimilation." 

Other  leading  citizens  of  Detroit  reinforced  through  the  daily  press  the 
broad  meaning  of  the  night  school  campaign: 

Judge  Alfred  J.  Murphy,  in  the  News-Tribune,  Sunday,  September  5 : 

"We  have  gone  too  long  on  the  theory  that  the  immigrant  who  desires  to  be  a 
citizen  can  be  one.  We  have  commended  him  on  the  taking  out  of  his  first  papers  and 
left  him  for  the  five  intervening  years  to  manage  the  English  language  and  acquire 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  constitution  as  best  he  could. 

"The  present  requirements  for  naturalization  are  by  no  means  too  high.  They 
certainly  should  not  be  lower  than  they  are.    American  citizenship  should  not  come 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  21 

too  easily.  But  the  difficulties  should  be  fair  difficulties,  not  mechanical  ones.  The 
standards  must  be  kept  high,  but  the  procedure  should  be  as  simple  as  the  gravity  of 
the  process  permits.  Above  all,  the  facility  for  acquiring  the  necessary  educational 
qualifications  for  citizenship  should  be  directly  available  to  those  desirous  of  attaining 
citizenship. 

"The  night  school  will  simplify  matters  for  those  immigrants  who  are  trying  to 
become  American  citizens.  In  this  respect  it  is  an  Immigrant  Welfare  Movement — 
but  it  is  far  more  than  this:  it  is  a  movement  to  advance  Americanism.  For  when  im- 
migrants are  prepared  for  citizenship  in  the  public  night  schools,  it  will  tend  to  se- 
cure uniformity  in  the  standards  for  admission  to  citizenship.  Such  uniformity  would 
assure  that  the  man  who  comes  up  to  file  his  petition  and  take  out  his  final  citizen 
paper  really  understands  the  obligation  of  citizenship,  and  is  prepared  to  exercise  its 
privileges  intelligently. 

"America  needs  to  foster  its  ideal  of  citizenship.  The  night  schools  with  a  thor- 
ough teaching  of  the  English  language,  and  with  a  course  in  civics  form  a  mighty 
step  in  this  direction." 

Charles  B.  Warren,  President  of  the  Board  of  Commerce,  in  the  Free 
Press,  Sunday,  September  12: 

"The  night  school  campaign  is  properly  a  first  step  in  a  great  civic  experiment  in 
Detroit.  It  is  an  experiment  in  the  assimilation  of  the  large  foreign-born  population 
which  constitutes  so  large  a  part  of  Detroit's  labor  assets  and  plays  so  large  a  part 
in  the  city's  social  make-up. 

"I  am  therefore  especially  pleased  with  the  way  in  which  the  broad  civic  aspect 
of  the  campaign  has  been  widely  recognized  in  many  different  quarters.  It  is  well 
to  emphasize  as  we  have  emphasized,  the  practical  advantage  to  employers  in  having 
English-speaking  men  in  their  factories,  but  the  question  is  a  much  greater  one  than 
this  alone,  and  it  affects  the  public  welfare  on  many  other  sides. 

"It  will  increase  interest  in  naturalization  and  it  will  define  for  all  foreign-born 
residents,  whether  they  are  naturalized  or  not,  exactly  what  the  obligations,  responsi- 
bilities and  privileges  of  American  citizenship  and  American  residence  are.  It  is  a 
good  thing  to  define  these  right  now,  and  I  believe  it  is  a  part  of  legitimate  educa- 
tional policy  of  the  country  to  assume  responsibility  for  doing  this  in  a  thorough  and 
practical  way." 

Magazines 

Night  school  material  and  articles  were  also  carried  in  the  Detroit  Satur- 
day Night,  an  important  local  weekly,  the  Electric  Weekly,  the  Michigan 
Manufacturers  and  Financial  Record,  the  Little  Stick,  and  in  four  issues  of  the 
Detroiter,  the  organ  of  the  Detroit  Board  of  Commerce. 

Moving  Pictures 

The  moving  picture  department  of  the  Ford  Motor  Company  made  a 
moving  picture  of  the  line  at  the  Employers'  Association  Bureau,  showing  the 
turning  away  of  men  that  cannot  speak  English,  thus  bringing  out  again 
how  indispensable  English  is  to  getting  work.  This  picture  was  shown  in 
various  theatres  of  Detroit  and  elsewhere.  The  Kunski  Company,  one  of  the 
large  moving  picture  exchanges  of  Detroit  had  a  slide  showing  the  poster  of 
Uncle  Sam  and  the  immigrant  already  described,  displayed  in  various  theatres. 

Meetings 

Several  prominent  foreign  born  citizens  and  workers  addressed  various 
racial  meetings  on  the  subject  of  the  night  schools.  One  of  these  also  made 
an  especial  point  of  the  Detroit  plan  at  a  tuberculosis  convention  at  Grand 


22  AMERICANIZING    A    CITY 

Rapids,  attended  by  many  persons  from  various  cities  and  towns  throughout 
the  state. 

Results 

It  is  too  soon  to  speak  of  the  results  of  the  night  school  campaign  in  De- 
troit— other  than  the  153%  increase  in  registration — as  final  and  consum- 
mated.   The  following  facts  and  tendencies  have,  however,  been  noted: 

1.  An  increased  feeling  of  responsibility  on  the  part  of  employers.  This 
shows  not  only  in  the  night  school  campaign,  but  in  the  establishment  of  new 
classes  within  separate  industries. 

2.  An  increased  interest  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  co- 
operating with  employers  and  with  other  social  agencies, 

3.  An  increased  interest  in  parochial  night  schools  throughout  the  parishes 
of  the  city.  Especially,  a  new  interest  in  the  teaching  of  citizenship  in  the 
parochial  citizenship  classes. 

4.  The  opening  of  more  private  classes  for  immigrants  in  settlements  and 
social  agencies. 

5.  A  greatly  increased  attention  to  methods  of  teaching  English  and 
civics  to  foreigners.  The  Board  of  Commerce  has  had  especially  prepared  a 
citizenship  manual  done  with  the  immediate  Detroit  situation  in  view,  and 
the  Board  of  Education  is  officially  using  this.  The  Board  of  Education  has 
scrutinized  methods  of  teaching  English,  decided  upon  a  modification  of  the 
dramatic  method,  secured  the  aid  of  experts  and  drawn  up  100  lesson  leaflets 
to  cover  the  100  nights  in  the  night  school  term.  Moreover,  recognizing  the 
too  often  neglected  fact  that  very  good  teachers  in  day  school  often  make  poor 
night  school  teachers,  the  Board  of  Education  has  authorized  the  services  of 
a  field  teacher,  a  young  man  distinguished  for  his  interesting  way  of  teaching 
English  to  foreigners  in  one  of  the  big  factories.  He  will  go  around  among 
the  schools,  demonstrating  methods  to  the  various  teachers,  taking  hold  of 
classes  that  are  beginning  to  lose  interest  and  in  other  ways  keeping  up  the 
quality  of  the  actual  instruction.  The  night  school  teachers  are  to  meet 
occasionally  and  hold  "experience"  sessions. 

6.  An  increased  understanding  throughout  Detroit  of  the  social  value 
of  assimilating  the  foreign  population.  This  is  shown  in  the  attitude  of  both 
social  agencies  and  of  the  general  public. 

7.  A  gain  in  methods  of  co-operation  on  the  part  of  various  agencies,  and 
a  realization  that  the  assimilation  of  the  immigrant  is  not  a  piece  of  "welfare" 
work,  but  a  fundamental  civic  necessity. 

8.  An  increase  in  registration  for  the  night  schools  among  young  mechanics. 
The  first  night's  registration  in  the  high  schools  showed  an  increase  of  25% 
over  the  previous  year. 

9.  A  movement  toward  the  establishment  of  a  public  night  school  policy 
in  other  immigrant  towns  and  communities  in  Michigan. 


AMERICANIZING    A    CITY  23 

10.  A  reinforcement  of  indmtrial  peace;  an  Increased  self  respect  among 
immigrant  workmen,  a  better  understanding  bet\veen  employers  and  workmen, 
and,  therefore,  a  better  basis  for  industrial  adjustments. 

11.  An  invigorated  understanding  of  the  whole  question  of  American 
citizenship  throughout  the  city  and  state;  the  first  step  of  a  concerted  move- 
ment toward  Americanization  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word. 

The  immigrant  is  a  powerful  industrial,  social  and  political  factor. 
All  the  forces  of  industry,  society  and  political  wisdom  are  needed  to 
accomplish  his  assimilation.  In  the  Detroit  experiment,  imperfect 
and  far  from  consummated  as  it  is,  is  exemplified  that  unified  coopera- 
tion of  forces  which  alone  can  weld  the  many  peoples  of  any  com- 
munity into  one  body  politic,  and  create  throughout  the  nation  the 
unity  and  power  that  come  from  common  ideals,  a  common  language, 
a  uniform  interpretation  of  citizenship.  A  night  school  campaign  for 
the  English  language  and  citizenship  in  every  city  and  town  is  an  im- 
mediate practical  approach  to  the  vast  and  complicated  problem  of 
assimilation.  The  end  to  be  attained  is  a  social  ideal.  And  the  ways 
and  means  are  those  of  social  cooperation  involving  every  constructive 
factor  in  the  civic  organism. 


I 


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